Faded Lives
by FireRose Prime
Summary: A life left behind, a life never achieved, a new life to begin. As her past fades behind her, Keeva steps forward into a future hard achieved. Optimus/OC/Megatron, Ironhide/Chromia, Ratchet/OC


**AN- This is just a little two shot inspired by a dream I had. There is more to it to come soon. I have quite a bit of beta work and my own homework to deal with at the moment. I apologize for the long waits in between all of my updates. Yeah thats about it.**

**Enjoy the story. Feel free to review.**

* * *

Walking the halls of the autobot base with Miko was something she had grown accustomed to over the past few months. They would talk about everything from music to movies to her life back in her own universe. Those were always some of her favorites, talking about the good old days back with her own Autobots. And hers they were. She looked over at the much younger girl trailing by her side.

"Miko, history is important to learn. No matter how shitty the teacher is." She had been trying to convince the young Asian girl to do her history homework for the past twenty minutes and it looked like she was finally getting through to the girl.

"She is right Miko." A rich baritone voice intoned behind them. The two females turned around to see Bulkhead and Optimus had snuck up on them. While Bulk was a usual addition, Optimus' presence was new.

"Oh hey Optimus, Bulk. I know, Optimus." Miko sighed in resignation and looked down at the floor. "I still don't like him though."

"You don't have to like him Miko. Just listen. And what brings you down to join us Optimus? Usually it's just Bulkhead."

Optimus graced her with a small smile. "I decided to take my own advice and get to know better those we have taken as allies, Keeva."

Keeva smiled back at him, happy to have switched topics. "Sounds like sound advice Prime." The quartet continued the trek down the myriad of hallways.

Miko gave the older brunette a wry smile. "You would say that." Kee frowned at her and nudged her in the ribs.

Optimus looked down at them in confusion before turning to Bulkhead for an explanation. The shrug he received told him the wrecker was as clueless as he was about what the two were going on about now. Miko noticed this confusion and, much to Keeva's chagrin, decided to enlighten them.

"Apparently in her universe, she spends most of her time with your counterpart, Optimus. Like seriously, all of her time is spent with him, Ratchet, or Ironhide. But she's close to all of them, or she wouldn't have half the stories she does." The dark haired girl winked at her victim.

"It would certainly be a novel occasion to meet my counterpart then." Optimus commented with just a hint of a smile in his voice. Keeva stayed silent and sunk into herself. They didn't know; it wasn't their fault. "Speaking of which, Keeva, Ratchet and the rest of us have a surprise for you."

The woman glanced up at the tall mech and forced a smile onto her face. "Sounds exciting." And with that she allowed herself to be lead into the main room.

There standing in front of the ground bridge controls was Ratchet. The usually gruff medic looked like a kid who had just been told he won all the candy he could ever eat. He glanced over to the approaching party who went to stand not far from the others. The medic was quite proud of himself for his latest accomplishment. He hoped it made their friend happy.

Keeva moved to stand next to Wheeljack while Ratchet got everything ready. And when the ground bridge swirled into life, she walked next to him. At least he knew when she didn't really want to talk. In her dower mindset, she failed to notice the fact the normal blues and purples of the ground bridge had been replaced with flaming oranges and golds. Had she noticed, she wouldn't have been so surprised to find herself in another reality. Her own to be exact.

She recognized the rough sandy grounds leading up to NEST base almost instantly. And in the instant her demeanor changed drastically. She spun around to see the happy faces of her recent comrades and knew they had just done this for her to make her happy. She couldn't just disappoint them like that. So once again she plastered what she hoped looked like a semi feasible happy smile and thanked them.

"You brought me back to my universe. Thank you, all of you." A few tears slipped from her green eyes. Jack mistook them as tears of joy and laughed.

"If you missed it this much you could have told us." She nodded, not really trusting herself.

"Now you can finally give me that tour of your base like you said you would." Miko cheered from her place in between Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Again Keeva nodded and started to lead the rather large entourage towards her NEST.

Seeing the large compound again sent her mind back to the last time she had seen it. Things looked better than they had then, more orderly and less chaotic. There was also a significant lack of Autobots milling about the tarmac. She wasn't quite surprised with that though. They were probably all back in their little hidey hole. She took her entourage through the gates with a wave and headed over to Lennox and several other soldiers.

"Keeva! Long time no see." Lennox shouted joyfully. Keeva gave him a hug with a tight smile. Releasing him, she waved at the others: Epps, Graham, Wilson, and Collins.

"Good to see you guys again too." She whispered. Lennox gave her a sad smile which alerted her to her slip up. There was no way she was going to go weak now. "I thought I'd take these guys back to the Autobots."

"AU bots, just what we needed." Epps chuckled as he looked them all over. "Who is the green one? And the humans? The rest I can puzzle out."

Keeva gestured back as she introduced them. "This is Miko, Jack, his mom June, Raf, and the green one is Bulkhead."

The guys waved and went to speak with the visitors while Lennox dragged Keeva off to the side. He knew what she was doing; she had done this before. Now he just had to get her talking….

"Keeva, I know that you miss him. We all do, but you can't just…" She cut him off before he could finish his little speech.

"Will, I know you mean well, but I'm fine. Really, there's no need to worry about me." Kee smiled at him. He didn't really buy it. "Now I'm going to take these guys to meet our Autobots. I'll catch you later."

The brunette headed off with a trot to the other Autobots and began leading them to the private Autobot sanctuary. With that failure under his belt it was time to call in the big guns. Reaching into his back pocket he whipped out his cell phone, quickly pulling up the com link of the mech he knew would be successful.

"Hey Ratchet. I need your expertise. Keeva's back…"

Keeva and the Autobots strode purposefully through the trees separating the two sections of base to her own Autobot's little safe house. She smiled as Miko began flipping out over finally meeting the bots she had heard so much about.

"Yeah Kee told me all kinds of stories about her bots. They did some crazy stuff. Why can't we do some of that?" The hyper Asian prattled on to anyone who would listen. Kee drowned her out as soon as she caught sight of a small flash of yellow. An out of sorts Bumblebee soon appeared in her vision.

"Hey there baby Bee." She called out in greeting.

"Kee, I'm glad your back." He gave her a spark felt smile as she approached him for a hug. He bent down and hugged her back as her small arms did their best to hug his face. "I missed you."

"Missed you too Bee."

"I'll take care of these guys, but right now Ratchet wants to see you." Bee said sadly. He knew as well as anyone here what was going on. He didn't particularly care for Ratchet's chosen solution.

Keeva sighed heavily and looked toward their HQ. "I suppose I should go see him then." She turned to the others. "I have to go see my Ratchet, but Bee here is gonna show you guys around. Miko no doing anything stupid." She gave her friend a fond smile before marching off to her given appointment with the doom bringer.

* * *

Her steps echoed in the empty metal hallways that formed the stronghold. The emptiness threw up several warning signs in her head, but she ignored them and kept on her trek to the rec room. She had already passed the med bay and noticed Ratchet wasn't there, so she figured there would be the next logical place to look. This time she wasn't disappointed. There waiting for her stood Ratchet, Ironhide, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Wheeljack. All of whom were mechs she had known for years.

"So Ratchet, what's all the fuss over?" she asked neutrally.

The medic gave her a sad smile. "This is your intervention, Keeva. We have come to theconclusion that something needs to be done about your current state. And thiis seems to be the best way. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, restrain her."

The twins moved to do as the medic ordered. They grabbed a hold of her arms, one on each side. She struggled against them lightly, not liking where this was going but they held her tight. She struggled harder as Ironhide began to play a recording at Ratchet's instruction. Optimus' deep baritone voice poured out of the speakers.

"Keeva, I wish you would have picked up. But since you haven't I just wish to tell you and all the autobots listening that I have and always will believe in you. I need you to continue our cause no matter what happens next. I know very well I will not survive this encounter. You all must not let my deactivation cause anybrought in what we have been doing. But I understand that you will need someone to guide you in my stead. In this service I place Keeva as temporary prime with Ratchet and Ironhide to advise her as they always had me.

"I hope that mine is one of the last casualties of this thrice blasted war. I wish you all the best of luck as you continue your lives."

Keeva thrashed against her holders as the message went on. She shouted every word she knew at those who were making her suffer through his last words again. She had already heard this, had replayed it in her head so many times. She cared little for the grief stricken faces of those around her. Her mind didn't care if they felt bad for putting her through this. She just wanted them to let her be. She thrashing and struggling slowed though as the message continued, a section she had not heard the first time.

"Keeva, I deeply regret the way I will be leaving things between us. I apologize for trying to coerce you into that and I know you didn't really mean all those things you said. I said some foolish things then myself and hope that you will forgive me for them. But here is one thing I will never forgive myself for. You have been a close friend and confidante for me and I have shared things with you that I have with no other. I have discovered so much about myself, including the ability to love again. You sparked that deep feeling within me and I will forever regret not telling you personally. I wish I could have one last day with you to explain, but alas fate is fickle. I will always love you my light." Anything more the prime would have said was cut off by static. He had only just finished that sentence when Megatron had taken advantage and stabbed him through the spark. Starscream erased any chance of revival with a squirm grenade to the body of the great mech.

Keeva had ceased her movement once she realized this part of his message was meant especially for her. Tears flew freely from her eyes as he finished speaking. He had loved her after all. Her poor heart was racing as she finally broke free of the twins. Everyone was staring at her but her eyes were only focused on one mech.

"Ratchet..." the poor girl could even finish was she was going to say before she ran out of the room. She passed by Bee and the other Autobots who had been listening at the door without thinking about it. Keeva's distraught mind took her to the one place she knew she could be safe and alone, the alcove she and Optimus had called their own.

No one paid her any mind as she dashed down the hallways mindlessly. She knew the base well enough to be able to traverse it without looking, which was good as her tears had blinded her to the world. First metal walls then green trees flew past her until she reached the stone walls of their personal sanctuary. Her knees ached as she plopped unceremoniously onto the ground. The distraught brunette curled up against the wall and continued her tearful spell.

"Why Optimus? Why did you have to leave me? I'm sorry, I am so firetruckin' sorry! I should have picked up the phone, I should have done so much more." Her shouts echoed in the empty room. Keeva's head slammed against her tucked up knees and her mind shut down.

* * *

Back in the rec room, the Autobots that had traveled here with Keeva and Bumblebee stepped into the room. They who were foreign to this universe looked upon the rest on confusion.

"Ratch, I don't know if this is going to work. You saw her face; you heard her cry. Perhaps... we did more harm than good." Bee said sadly. He hoped he was wrong. he wanted his big sister back. Ratchet gave the scout a small smile.

"No Bumblebee we did the right thing. She needed to know everything before she could move on. I do think that we owe these bots an explanation." the chartreuse mech looked the counter Autobots over. He went and introduced them t each mech in the room before beginning his explanation of recent events.

"Two days before you met Keeva, we endured a great loss. Our Optimus Prime was killed by Megatron and Starscream. Keeva was probably hit the hardest out of all of us. She and Optimus had been very close, apparently closer than the rest of us thought if that message is anything to go by. Keeva took it even worse than she should have because of what happened just previous to that mission. You see the two of them had a rather sizable arguement just before had, the details of which I was not made privy to. But I do know that the last thing Keeva said to him, and I only know this because he came to me just before we left looking quite distraught, is that she hoped he burned in hell. He perished before she could ever amend the situation with him and was still angry with him and so ignored his last call." The medic stopped. He hoped that would be explanation enough as he didn't want to go any further down that road again.

June looked astonished. "She's been through all that. The poor girl! All this time she's been blocking her emotions."

"I feel bad. Perhaps we should have asked if she even wanted to come back." Jack intoned after his mother. The rest of the Autobots looked rather distressed that they had placed their friend in such a situation.

"Perhaps it would be best if we took our leave, Optimus." The guest Wheeljack suggested to his prime. Optimus looked pensive for a moment but nodded.

"I would like to help her more, but I think she is in good hands." He glanced at the native Autobots. "Let us leave. I trust you will give Keeva our regards." Ratchet nodded and the Autobots and humans left to go back to their own reality.

* * *

Keeva had fallen into a fitful sleep. Her mind plagued her with memories of the past, some good and some bad. She tossed and turned as she relived those precious moments.

_A younger Keeva had been sitting on her front porch swing waiting for her father to return from class. She was swinging back and forth gleefully, her long brown hair blowing in her face. She was anxious for him to arrive as they had plans to go out to dinner. It was her birthday tomorrow after all and he was busy with parent teacher conferences. He had plans to take her to her favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel._

_The 16 year old had to stop her grand swinging though when the phone rang inside. She jumped off the swing gracefully and ran inside to grab it._

_"Hello," Keeva answered. A very distressed voice came back on the line._

_"Are you kin to Gineva Gallagher?"_

_"Yes. I'm her daughter. What happened?" Keeva was trying hard not to panic. She knew well enough that they only called when something bad had happened._

_"I'm sorry to have to say this, but your mother was killed in action early this morning. We will be sending more information to you at a later date. I am sorry for your loss." The man on the other end hung up. The phone slipped from her hand landing with a dull clank on the floor. _

_Her father came in to the house to see her still standing there. He threw his stuff down to the ground and ran up to her. _

_"Kee, what's wrong?" He spun her around and grabbed her shoulders. Now that she was facing him he noticed she was silently crying and shaking. But still she tried to put on a brave face._

_"They called. Mom died this morning." Her façade collapsed as soon as the words were out. She cried the night away in her father's arms. _

_The sun set was beautiful with oranges and reds as Keeva sat with Optimus in their cave. He had his holoform on and they were seated a top his hood. The 22 year old woman glanced over to her companion. Optimus was currently preoccupied with playing with her hair._

_"Optimus, what are you doing?"_

_"I am playing with your hair." He said simply, not looking up from his task._

_"Why?"_

_"Because it is beautiful and fun to mess with. Much like the woman on whose head it sits."_

_Keeva stayed silent and looked back to the sunset, blushing deeply the entire time. Oh how she wished he knew what he did to her. Her heart raced every time he was near; her heart cried out for him. But she could never tell him, lest she risk everything they had and her own heart in the process. _

_Optimus glanced up at her once she turned away. He knew what he had told her, and had done so on purpose. He wanted her to understand that he had feelings for her. Then maybe she could help him straighten them out. But she would never want anything to do with him like that. There was so much that he, even as prime, could not give her. But Primus be damned his spark always hummed contentedly when she was near, much like it had back with Elita one. He wondered if this could be his one chance at love again._

_The angered 26 year old glared at the mech before her. How dare he suggest that she leave base? What in his right processor would possess him to think of that?_

_"There is no way in any of the seven hells that I am going along with this! I won't just leave you all here!" She shouted forcefully._

_Optimus bent to her level once again. "Keeva, it is in your best interest. Stop being so stubborn!" His patience had snapped with her once again, his temper rearing its ugly head._

_"I don't care! This is my home. I ain't leaving it!"_

_"You glitch headed human! Why will you not listen to simple reason?!" _

_"Screw off Optimus. You know what I hope you rot in hell!" She stormed out of the room and to her own quarters where she locked herself in for the rest of the night and well into the next day._

_Optimus stood tall as she left the room, his temper cooling off now that its target was gone. It seemed that she was the only he really lost his temper with. And for all he hated arguing with her, sometimes it was nice to let everything go. Primus knows they both needed the release sometimes. But this was different. Something in his circuits told him this time wouldn't end as their arguments usually did, laughing everything off in their special haven._

_He was pulled out of his musing as Ratchet approached him from behind._

_"Prime, we have reports of a massive Decepticon attack in North Carolina. We're going to need everyone." The medic reported._

_Prime nodded. "I understand Ratchet. We will see to it quickly. Ready for full deployment. But Ratchet," He paused. The medic was one of his oldest friends. "She did not mean what she said, did she?"_

_Seeing his Prime is such a state threw the chartreuse mech off slightly. "I am confident that she meant her words just as much as you meant your own. You know her better than everyone here, and that's saying something. She cares for you Optimus, more than you know."_

_"Thank you my friend." Optimus offered a small smile and went to attend to this new threat to his home and family. These cons would learn that no one messed with his loved ones._

"Keeva….Keeva….Keeva Gallagher, get your aft out here!" She woke to the medic yelling at her from somewhere not far off. She shook herself from her dreams and wiped her eyes. Even she could tell they were red and puffy from her sobbing.

She joints cracked as she stood from her crunched position. She could barely believe she had fallen asleep like that. With a sigh, the brunette quietly headed out to go find her friend and medic.

Ratchet spotted her before she even saw him. "Keeva Gallagher, where have you been!?"

"I need some alone time Ratch. I'm sorry for worrying you." Her soft voice drifted up to his audios. Her walls had been shattered and it would take quite some time to build them back up. He knelt and picked her up gingerly.

"Don't you apologize to me. You need that time alone. I just hope now you'll let us help you without going to such extremes." His face softened. "We're all worried about you Kee. This isn't like you. I know that Optimus would be having words with you right now if he could see you like this."

The medic's words brought back the happy times she had spent with Optimus. And she knew that he was right, Optimus would never allow her to stay like this. She could almost hear him scolding her for taking it this far. She let out a rough laugh. Healing takes time that's true, but at least now she was on the path to recovery.

"Yeah I know Ratch. I miss him so much. You were right from the start. I should have told him I loved him." She leaned back against his fingers. "This reminds me of that one time he came back after that mission. It was the first mission with me waiting back home. I had fallen asleep in the rec room waiting up for him. He carried me back to bed. I woke up slightly when he picked me up but I don't think he ever noticed. The whole time he was walking he talked about the mission, and how nice it was to have someone waiting for him to come home."

Ratchet nodded with a sift smile. She was talking now which was good. She continued talking about various things as he carried her back to base. Most of the team was waiting for them by the door, Bumblebee and Ironhide standing forefront.

"How are you doing little one?" Ironhide asked in a rare display of kindness. He couldn't care less about his rep when his loved ones were hurting.

"I'm better 'Hide. Not healed by any means, but I'm ready to start the process. Hey baby Bee." Keeva turned her attention to her 'little brother'. This time she was able to give him a genuine smile. Bee grinned from audio to audio at the sight. He was getting his sister back.

"Don't worry sis. We'll help you through this. I promise." Bumblebee vowed and the rest of the assembled bots offered their agreement.

"Thanks everybot." Keeva settled down, safe in knowing she had her family behind her to help her through.


End file.
